The 1937 Grand Prix season was the fifth AIACR European Championship season. The championship was won by Rudolf Caracciola, driving for the Mercedes-Benz team. Caracciola won three of the five events that counted towards the championship, despite not taking part in the first race, the Belgian GP, as he and many other drivers of the German teams and Alfa's Scuderia Ferrari preferred to race in the US a week earlier for the Vanderbilt Cup.
Due to the scoring system which basically added up podium finishes with 1 to 3 points, while covering over 75% of a race distance added 4 points, any absence lowered championships chances significantly as the maximum of 8 points was added.
In 1934, rules were introduced that allowed unlimited engines as long as the car weight was below 750 kg. Starting at around 300hp in 1934, the cars gained power each season. 1937 saw the most powerful Grand Prix cars so far, with the Mercedes-Benz W125 supercharged 5.6L inline-8 engines boasting nearly 650 bhp, and the Auto Union Type C V16 well over 500 hp. Considering that an average saloon car produced around 25 bhp at the time, the performance of these single-seaters was extremely high compared with any other season in modern motorsport; so much so that regulations were put in force for the following year to limit the engine capacity to reduce their power and to add weight to the cars to make them slower.
The development, construction and operation of the German race cars and race tracks was supported by subsidies from the German governments of the time, with Italy and France making similar efforts (Tripoli Grand Prix, S.E.F.A.C., Million Franc Race). The amount of power of the supercharged Mercedes-Benz W125 was not equalled in circuit racing cars until large American V8 engines powered Can–Am cars in the late 1960s, and European Grand Prix cars did not have this kind of power again until the early 1980s 1.5 liter turbocharged engines, a span of nearly 45 years, when Grand Prix racing had long since become Formula One.
Teams and drivers The following teams and drivers competed in the 1937 AIACR European Championship.
Entrant Constructor Chassis Engine Driver Rounds Daimler-Benz AG Mercedes-Benz W125 Mercedes-Benz M125 5.7 L8 s Hermann Lang 1-2, 4-5 Manfred von Brauchitsch All Christian Kautz All Rudolf Caracciola 2-5 Richard Seaman 2, 5 Goffredo Zehender 3 Auto Union AG Auto Union C Auto Union 6.0 V16 s Hans Stuck All Rudolf Hasse 1-3 Hermann Paul Müller 1-2, 5 Ernst von Delius 2 Bernd Rosemeyer 2-5 Luigi Fagioli 4 Tazio Nuvolari 4 Achille Varzi 5 Scuderia Ferrari Alfa Romeo 12C-368C-35 Alfa Romeo 4.1 V12 sAlfa Romeo 3.8 L8 s Raymond Sommer 1, 4 Carlo Felice Trossi 1, 3, 5 Tazio Nuvolari 2, 5 Giuseppe Farina 2-5 Attilio Marinoni 2 Antonio Brivio 3 Carlo Pintacuda 3 Vittorio Belmondo 5 Clemente Biondetti 5 Franz Gouvion Maserati 8CM Maserati 3.0 L8 s Franz Gouvion 1 Graf Salvi del Pero Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Alfa Romeo 3.8 L8 s Vittorio Belmondo 2 Giovanni Minozzi Alfa Romeo Monza Alfa Romeo 2.3 L8 s Giovanni Minozzi 2, 4 Scuderia Maremmana Alfa Romeo P3 Alfa Romeo 2.9 L8 s Renato Balestrero 2 Maserati 6CM6C 34 Maserati 1.5 L6 sMaserati 3.7 L6 s Franco Cortese 2 Francesco Severi 2 Clemente Biondetti 3 Luigi Soffietti Maserati 6C 34 Maserati 3.7 L6 s Luigi Soffietti 2-3 Scuderia Subauda Maserati 8CM Maserati 3.0 L8 s Edoardo Teagno 2, 4 Luigi Soffietti 4 Paul Pietsch Maserati 6C 34 Maserati 3.7 L6 s Paul Pietsch 2-4 Kenneth Evans Alfa Romeo P3 Alfa Romeo 2.9 L8 s Kenneth Evans 2 Hans Rüesch Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Alfa Romeo 3.8 L8 s Hans Rüesch 2-5 Count Festetics Maserati 8CM Maserati 3.0 L8 s Ernõ Festetics 2 László Hartmann Maserati 4CM Maserati 2.5 L4 s László Hartmann 2-4 Raymond Sommer Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Alfa Romeo 3.8 L8 s Raymond Sommer 2-3 Max Christen Maserati Tipo 26B Maserati 2.0 L8 s Max Christen 4 Henri Simonot Alfa Romeo Monza Alfa Romeo 2.6 L8 s Henri Simonot 4 Écurie Genevoise Maserati 8CM Maserati 3.0 L8 s Adolfo Mandirola 4 SA Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo 12C-37 Alfa Romeo 2.6 L8 s Giovanbattista Guidotti 5
Season review
European Championship Grands Prix
Rd Date Name Circuit Winning drivers Winning constructor Report 1 11 July Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps Rudolf Hasse Auto Union Report 2 25 July German Grand Prix Nürburgring Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Report 3 8 August Monaco Grand Prix Monaco Manfred von Brauchitsch Mercedes-Benz Report 4 22 August Swiss Grand Prix Bremgarten Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Report 5 12 September Italian Grand Prix Livorno Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Report
Non-championship Grands Prix
Date Name Circuit Winning driver Winning constructor Report 16 January Grosnevor Grand Prix Pollsmoor Ernst von Delius Auto Union Report 14 February Flatenloppet Flaten Eugen Bjørnstad Alfa Romeo Report 18 April Valentino Grand Prix Turin Antonio Brivio Alfa Romeo Report 25 April Naples Grand Prix Posillipo Giuseppe Farina Alfa Romeo Report 1 May Campbell Trophy Brooklands Prince Bira Maserati Report 9 May Tripoli Grand Prix Mellaha Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report 9 May Eläintarhan ajot Eläintarharata Hans Rüesch Alfa Romeo Report 16 May Grand Prix des Frontières Chimay Hans Rüesch Alfa Romeo Report 30 May Avusrennen AVUS Hermann Lang Mercedes-Benz Report 30 May Superba Circuit Genoa Carlo Felice Trossi Alfa Romeo Report 30 May Bucharest Grand Prix Bucharest Hans Rüesch Alfa Romeo Report 6 June Rio de Janeiro Grand Prix Gávea Carlo Maria Pintacuda Alfa Romeo Report 13 June Eifelrennen Nürburgring Bernd Rosemeyer Auto Union Report 20 June Milan Grand Prix Milan Tazio Nuvolari Alfa Romeo Report 5 July Vanderbilt Cup Roosevelt Raceway Bernd Rosemeyer Auto Union Report 25 July San Remo Grand Prix San Remo Circuit Achille Varzi Maserati Report 25 July Vila Real Circuit Vila Real Vasco Sameiro Alfa Romeo Report 15 August Coppa Acerbo Pescara Bernd Rosemeyer Auto Union Report 15 August Estoril Circuit Estoril Manoel de Oliveira Ford Report 28 August Junior Car Club 200 mile race Donington Park Arthur Dobson ERA Report 26 September Masaryk Grand Prix Brno Rudolf Caracciola Mercedes-Benz Report 2 October Donington Grand Prix Donington Park Bernd Rosemeyer Auto Union Report 16 October Mountain Championship Brooklands Hans Rüesch Alfa Romeo Report 31 October Kalastajatorpanajo Helsinki Karl Ebb Mercedes-Benz Report
Championship final standings Pos Driver BEL GER MON SUI ITA Pts 1 Rudolf Caracciola 1 2 1 1 13 2 Manfred von Brauchitsch Ret 2 1 3 Ret 15 3 Hermann Lang 3 7 2 2 19 = Christian Kautz 4 6 3 6 Ret 19 5 Hans Stuck 2 Ret 4 4 9 20 6 Raymond Sommer 5 Ret 7 8 27 7 Rudolf Hasse 1 5 Ret 28 = Bernd Rosemeyer 3 Ret Ret 3 28 = Tazio Nuvolari 4 5 7 28 = Giuseppe Farina Ret 6 Ret Ret 28 11 László Hartmann Ret Ret 9 29 12 Hans Rüesch 8 8 Ret 31 13 Vittorio Belmondo 12 10 32 14 Hermann Paul Müller Ret Ret 5 33 15 Richard Seaman Ret 4 34 = Clemente Biondetti Ret Ret 34 17 Luigi Soffietti Ret Ret 35 = Carlo Felice Trossi Ret 8 35 = Paul Pietsch Ret 10 35 20 Kenneth Evans 9 36 = Ernő Festetics 10 36 = Attilio Marinoni 11 36 = Giovanni Minozzi Ret Ret 36 = Goffredo Zehender 5 36 = Carlo Maria Pintacuda 9 36 = Luigi Fagioli 7 36 = Achille Varzi 6 36 28 Henri Simonet Ret 37 = Adolfo Mandirola Ret 37 30 Franco Cortese Ret 38 = Ernst von Delius Ret 38 = Giovanbattista Guidotti Ret 38 33 Francesco Severi Ret 39 = Renato Balestrero Ret 39 = Edoardo Teagno Ret 39 = Antonio Brivio Ret 39 = Max Christen Ret 39 Pos Driver BEL GER MON SUI ITA Pts
References